Week Ending - 2025/05/18

BADGERS FLYING HIGH AHEAD OF WATERMEAD CLASH

Badgers are flying high in the Leicestershire Road Running League following the finalization of results after the Bosworth Half, race four of the scheduled eleven. The races come thick and fast this time of year and this week sees the inaugural Watermead 10K taking place as a new addition to the LRRL calendar.

Badgers men regain top spot in Division One after their superb team effort in the heat at Bosworth. The ladies are looking good for a promotion this term. They are unbeaten so far this season and are sitting pretty at the top of Division Two. The vet men’s side are also riding high at the top of Division One, significantly boosted by having the likes of Adrian Payne and Mark Cox turning 40 during the off-season. The mixed team are also top of the table and the men’s B teams for both senior and veterans also top their tables.

Individually, Matt Scarsbrook is top of the male list with two wins from four races. Chris Horton holds the distinction of being the top V50 athlete with a points total so high that it is only bettered by two runners irrespective of age. Adrian Payne is second V40 and similarly is the sixth highest scoring runner of any age while Mark Cox is tenth V40 in his first season in the bracket, having already missed a race too.

The male V45 category has three Badgers in the top five. Glyn Broadhurst is second, Neil Russell third despite having one less race under his belt, and Dave Jackson fifth in a highly competitive band. In the V60 age group, Adrian Parkes moves into 8th place after a promising start to the year. Men’s vice-captain and King of Cool, Dave Jenkinson, is reported as being extremely proud of his team.

The ladies have some league leaders too. The up-and-coming Megan Church is currently leading the field in the U23 sector, her final season before moving up to senior. She has been a shining star with her enthusiasm and commitment to the cause this term and her speedy teammate Erica Bassford is currently in 8th place having run one less event to date. London Marathon ace Susie Stringer leads the way in the V40 women category after her super start to the season. Skipper Megan Griffiths has reached the giddy heights of fifth senior female with over a third of the season gone.

Parkrun saw plenty of action at the weekend with a raft of good performances up and down the country. Carl Savage produced a superb run to finish 9th at Mansfield in a great sub-20 time of 19:53. Yvonne Faulkner-Grant was with him as she weighed in with a top class 24:44, her fastest time post-pandemic and good enough for 7th female on the day. At Gloucester, Matt Green finished a fine 11th in 20:47 with Jane Barrett going particularly well in 24:42 for 6th lady. At Barmouth, Blues fan Rob Crow notched up the 100th parkrun of his storied career, an excellent achievement.

Mark Repton ran a rapid 19:11 at Oaklands for 7th place in a competitive field. Serial Kingsbury winner Dave Jackson sneaked into the top ten on home turf with a brave 19:39, beating off a resurgent Chris Tweed by five seconds and a place. It was Tweed’s 50th parkrun appearance altogether, a long slog over a four-year period for the busy Dad of three. Glyn Broadhurst recorded the fastest ever time by a Badger at the Park In The Past parkrun near Wrexham with his speedy 19:07 while Megan Griffiths, coached by the great man himself, continues to go from strength to strength picking up a 6th place female finish of 22:55.

The fastest parkrunner of the weekend was Chris Horton who achieved his 14th consecutive first place finish with a swift 17:07 at Sence Valley Forest Park near Ibstock. Karen Draper may have thought she was the furthest flung Badger of the day with her jaunt at Lands End in Cornwall but Mother and daughter duo Maggi and Anna Savin-Baden completed their parkrun alphabet challenge by finally ticking off the tricky letter Z near Krakow in Poland, only to be told by club Chairperson Danny Warren to do it all again but this time in alphabetical order! Finally, Neil Rose bettered his PB at Tamworth Castle for the second week in succession with a fine 21:34, meaning he has now made giant strides from his 25 minute plus starting point last year.